GOP May Delay Sotomayor Hearings

After several concerted weeks of trying, congressional Republicans so far have failed to find any good reason why Sonia Sotomayor should not be confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice. Apparently, though, they just think they need more time to find a smoking gun. CQ Politics reports today that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) may use some procedural rules to delay the confirmation hearings scheduled to start Monday. He told CQ that the Judiciary Committee needed more time to pour over documents from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, where Sotomayor had long served on the board. He also added that several members of the committee would be tied up with the concurrent health care reform hearings next week. One of Session’s colleagues, though, suggested another motivation for the delay: air time.

With both [hearings] “on television at the same time,” said Charles E. Grassley , R-Iowa, who sits on both panels, “What senator wants to be absent from either one of them?”